40 years ago: County fallout-shelter plan nearly ready for distribution

Final amendments to the Douglas County community fallout shelter plan were being made today, with the amended plan to be distributed throughout the county in September or October by the Journal-World. The 12-page plan listed fallout shelters in Lawrence and Baldwin, as well as precautions area residents should take in case of a nuclear attack. Fifty-eight Lawrence shelters were listed, most of which were in the “central business district.” There were few shelters in the area southwest of 15th and Iowa, which was referred to as “one of the city’s fastest growing areas.” When asked if schools in that area would not make adequate shelters, City Manager Buford Watson said he had been told that most modern school buildings were not constructed well enough to withstand radioactive fallout. Residents of North Lawrence were also without shelters. In the event of a nuclear attack, residents north of the bridge would be “instructed to travel on the turnpike to the Iowa Street exit, then proceed to the central business district via Iowa and 15th Street.”